The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for use as an evaporator in car cooling system, a radiator for industrial uses, and an oil cooler. More particularly, the present invention relates to a heat exchanger for such use, having a core and headers, the core including a plurality of tubular elements and corrugated fins sandwiched therebetween, and the headers allowing a cooling medium to be introduced into the core and discharged therefrom.
To explain a known heat exchanger of this type in detail, reference will be made to FIGS. 9 and 10:
The known heat exchanger is constituted by a core 114 and headers 100 mounted at respective corners in the manner shown in FIG. 10. An example of the headers is shown FIG. 9. The core 114 includes tubular elements 110 provided with tanks 111 at one end, and corrugated fins between one tubular element and the next. One of the headers introduces a cooling medium into the core 114 and the other header discharges it therefrom after circulating through the core 114.
Referring to FIG. 9, the header 100 is made of a pipe of a rectangular cross-section, having a flat body portion 102 and a cylindrical head portion 101. The reference numeral 103 denotes an aperture through which the header 100 is connected to a tank 111. An inlet pipe (not shown) and an outlet pipe (not shown) are connected to the cylindrical head portion 101. In FIG. 10 the reference numeral 112 denotes side plate attached to the outermost fin 113 to reinforce the core 114 of the heat exchanger.
One disadvantage of this known heat exchanger resides in the construction of the header described above. As is evident in FIG. 10, the cylindrical head portion of 101 projects beyond the side of the body portion 102 by a distance (i), thereby producing a dead space alongside the side plates 112. As a result a larger casing (not shown) is required to accommodate the core of the heat exchanger. For installation a large space is required. The large casing increases the production cost and the larger installation space limits the application of the heat exchanger.
One solution is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication (unexamined) 61-169364, which teaches that headers are disposed within the core of a heat exchanger. However, this proposal makes assembling work complicated, which reflects in production cost.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger having such headers as to allow the core of a heat exchanger to be compactly housed in a relatively small casing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger capable of easy assembly.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show, for the purpose of illustration only, one embodiment in accordance with the present invention.